The present invention disclosed herein relates to an apparatus and method for treating a substrate with a fluid, and more particularly to an apparatus and method for supplying fluid.
In order to manufacture a semiconductor device, a desired pattern is formed on a substrate through various processes such as photolithography, etching, ashing, ion implantation, and thin film deposition. Various process liquids are used in each process, and contaminants and particles are generated during the process. In order to solve this problem, a cleaning process for cleaning contaminants and particles before and after each process is essentially performed.
Generally, in the cleaning step, the substrate is treated with a chemical and a rinsing liquid and then dried. In the drying treatment step, the substrate is dried with an organic solvent such as isopropyl alcohol (IPA) as a step for drying the rinsing liquid remaining on the substrate. However, as the distance (CD: critical dimension) between the pattern formed on the substrate and the pattern becomes finer, the organic solvent remains in the spaces between the patterns.
In order to remove the residual organic solvent, a supercritical treatment process is performed. The supercritical processing process processes the substrate by supplying a supercritical fluid to the substrate positioned in the chamber. The supercritical processing process proceeds in an atmosphere above the critical pressure and the critical temperature. FIG. 1 is a cross sectional view showing a general supercritical treating apparatus. Referring to FIG. 1, a fluid is supplied to the chamber 2 through a supply line 4. Before the fluid is supplied to the chamber 2, it is filtered by the filter 8, and the fluid can maintain a certain level of cleanliness.
When the supercritical treatment process is completed, the internal atmosphere of the chamber 2 is exhausted through a exhaust line 6 connected to the supply line 4. The connection point of the exhaust line 6 is located downstream of the filter 8. Accordingly, the internal atmosphere does not greatly affect the filter 8 when exhausting, while contaminants accumulate as the number of times of use of the filter 8 increases.